2. T ABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE P ORTFOLIO
2.8. Some examples
Here we present some examples of tables of contents used in higher education.
Experience directed by professor Neus González Monfort in the subject of Social Sciences and its didactics I, in the Primary Education degree during the 2007-2008 academic year at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, it is an attempt to carry out learning that reflects activities done in the classroom and group work. As the professor herself explains, this is a closed table of contents, as all samples are obligatory and, although 10% are voluntary (the “miscellaneous” section), these are not included in the overall portfolio mark.
Portfolio table of contents: Social Sciences and its didactics I 2007-2008. Prof. Neus González Monfort
Portfolio 1. Presentations
— Who I am? (individual)
— What is in the portfolio? (group) 2. Basic materials of the DCS (35% in group)
— The Q-Sort
— The Comic
— Basic competencies and the curriculum
— Constructivist model
— Time and space
3. Media and the Social Sciences (15% in group)
— The learning field
4. Terrain covered (15% in group)
— Help from the experts
5. Orientation and evaluation (5% in group)
— Best and worst
6. Structure (15% individual)
— Fundamentals: Social Sciences and primary education
— Columns: DCS in the initial education of primary teachers
— Pillars: cooperative work
7. A point and follow-up (15% individual)
— Self-evaluation
— What do I still have to learn to become a teacher?
8. Miscellaneous (10% individual)
In the table of contents of the Communications, Audiovisual and Teacher Training of the UAB portfolio, we find elective samples that the student can rebuild as long as the changes produced are always reasoned.
Contents of the portfolio: Communications, Audiovisual and Education 2006-2007. Prof. Noemí Santiveri
The table of contents of the portfolio is presented at the beginning of the course, so that the students can start to build it from the first day. It is a mixed table of contents because the student decides which samples to include in his portfolio.
The contents foresees a series of samples that can be rebuilt or that do not need to be produced, always counting on the student’s motivation.
— A digital image that identifies them. This image defines and presents them to their classmates. The entire group views each classmate’s image on the Intranet, the work space.
— A diary that is to be written each day of presential class and that exists to describe the thoughts and feelings experienced throughout the class. The teacher has to look over this diary on the third day in order to verify that the student has understood; at the end of the semester, it is incorporated into the digital portfolio.
— A sample of learning obtained in audiovisual language from a syntactic, semantic and morphological aspect. It is a first reading that can be presented in any digital format. Feedback from the professor is necessary in order to approve that it is a good sample.
— A sample of the application of audiovisual language in the school. This is shown to the entire group through the Intranet and serves as a substitute learning of teaching units with the help of audiovisual language.
— A technical sample of audiovisual language from an objective (syntax, semantic and morphology) and subjective (feelings) aspect. In this case, the format is determined by the professor and the students can select between ten static images.
— Participation in a virtual forum. The questions that are proposed must be diverse in order to offer different focuses of interest.
— Production of the filmed report that led to the production of an educational clip. It is not evaluated, nor is the product requested (a DVD), but rather it is the process that has been followed in order to achieve it that is evaluated.
— Consideration of evidences that had been requested and evaluation of the evidences presented in the portfolio. This reflection leads to self-evaluation and the final qualification of the material.
In one of the subject groups, there is a student with a severe visual impairment.
The characteristics of the student favour the rebuilding of the table of contents in a way that he will not be excluded from the group or the learning. The evidences are based on audio format, which offers the student and his production report group the possibility of working with radio equipment.
In the table of contents of the Primary Childcare portfolio from professor Xavier Gimeno Soria at the UAB, we find an example of the free evidences called
“miscellaneous”. Miscellaneous includes “other materials” that cannot be included in sections given by teaching staff and that enable the student to include free evidences. All the materials are to be accompanied by a brief commentary on the link between the samples and the subject.
The rest of the evidences in this portfolio are obligatory and elective, and are designed to ensure individual and group production.
Contents of the portfolio: Primary Childcare 2006-2007. Prof. Xavier Gimeno Soria
—Individual production. Sub-portfolio of work done individually.
•Presentation letter. Personal/professional written work by the student in relation to the subject. It must include some personal objectives in reference to the programme and be related to his own education. It would be interesting to include a photograph. The student’s partner will have to compose three questions in order to obtain more relevant information depending on the letter presented. The responses to the student’s partner’s questions will have to be included. The entire letter will be handed in to the professor before the 20th of March.
•Timeline of an education.Diary of the in-class sessions of the subject.
•Selected pages.Selection of three days of diary entries. The selection shall be accompanied by the motives, reasons and arguments that have been considered in order to do it.
•Mirrow. A document of self-evaluation in his session and learning diary that is to be done at three different times during the course.
•Three-facetted editorial critique. Critical analysis of the texts that were the object of lecture in the subject following the guideline presented by the teacher.
• Cinema seat.Critical analysis of the film viewed in the subject following the guideline presented by the teacher.
• Discovering lost rights. Individual work on one of your articles on the declaration of child rights. This must be related to the subject programme.
• Family photo.Analysis of a family situation through a photograph. Choose a photograph of your family that you can share with your classmates. The photograph will be analysed using knowledge acquired in the subject.
• Academic autobiography. Documentation that illustrates the student’s own biography as related to institutional educational experience.
• Final self-evaluation report.This quantitative and qualitative report will be a self-evaluation document of the set of tasks carried out during the subject.
•Final evaluation report that your partner has done (where applicable).
This quantitative and qualitative report will be an evaluation document of the set of samples carried out (selected) during the subject, done by the student’s partner.
—Collective production.Sub-portfolio of work done in a small group.
• We all have needs. Production of a list of children’s needs from the declaration of rights presented in class.
• Who lives here?Description of a simulated family situation, description of the relationships between family members, description of a family history and a survey of socio-educational needs of the family that can be attend to by a primary childcare service.
• Childhood in Europe.Analysis of a childhood attention service extracted from the video Can you feel a colour, produced by the European Commission Network on Childcare and viewed in the classroom.
• Study of primary childcare service and families.Small group analysis and comparison of a service of psycho-pedagogical attention to the diversity of childhood and families. This study will be concentrated on a written report and on a public presentation made in front of classmates..
—The accompaniment.Monitoring and evaluation documents that the teacher makes of the student’s portfolio (if the student considers it opportune).
—Miscellaneous.Other materials that cannot be included in other sections. All the materials will be accompanied by a brief commentary on the link of the material with the subject.